Category Archives: Uncategorized

Today I’m doing a post unrelated to organizing. September 11th is a major day of reflection for me. I was only a few blocks from the Towers when they fell. They smacked against our building and turned a beautiful, stunning fall day into a nightmare. The streets surrounding our office looked like a war zone. For many days after, I remained in shock and unable to leave my apartment.

About a week or two after the attacks, we were allowed back to our office building. On the first day back, the subway was packed and moving around was slow. As we emerged from underground and began climbing the stairs out of the subway, someone from behind me yelled, “move it, get going, I’m in a hurry”. A man in a suit in front of me turned around and simply stated, “you are alive, be grateful that you are in this mob”. Enough said.

Thanks to all that sacrificed so much on that day and on the days ahead for me, for my children and for our freedom. You will not be forgotten and I’m forever grateful.

The first step to an efficient and easy to navigate purse is to edit, edit, edit. Don’t carry more around than you absolutely need. My purse contains; phone, 1 lipstick, 1 small brush, wallet, tissues, handi-wipes, business cards, 1 pen, small hand sanitizer, cell phone and an epi-pen for my daughter. I don’t really need anything else. I fit all the accessories listed above in a cosmetic case that I transfer easily from purse to purse.

I have a few examples below of organizers that can transfer from purse to purse with ease. I know many people use, (and like) the Purseket. It wouldn’t be my first choice, but I can definitely see the draw. My favorite tip comes from organizer MJ Rosenthal, owner of An Organized Life. MJ uses clear cosmetic type bags so that she can see what is in her purse and what she’d like to transfer. Simple and brilliant.

I’ve included some examples below. Have a great weekend and please send me some pictures of your organized purses.

I spent a relaxing morning catching up on some work and reading blogs, email, Facebook etc… My jaw about hit the floor when I stumbled upon a post where the blogger was urging their readers to begin planning for Christmas. Trust me, I’m all for thinking ahead and planning, but Christmas? Certainly there might be situations where you need to begin thinking about the holiday season. If you travel then it might be wise to look for airfare, or perhaps setting aside a date for your party. This particular post was focused on party and meal planning for Christmas and I do feel that for most people this is too far ahead to begin planning. Back to school and a busy fall are enough for me and I certainly do not need to add holiday pressure to the mix.

Here are a few suggestions for dealing with the present while still being able to keep an eye on the months ahead;

1. Sit down at the start of each school year and make certain all the dates are entered into a family calendar. Most schools have an online calendar to reference so that you can enter school events, holidays and conference dates.

2. Toward the middle of each month, take time to look at the month (or two) ahead. Are there special events that need to be planned, do you need a sitter, do you have conflicting dental or after school appointments? Make a list of everything that needs to be sorted/fixed for the upcoming month.

3. SYNC – my husband and I are able to sync our calendars. I have his work calendar and he has our home calendar ALL TOGETHER. The sync happens automatically (MobileMe I love you) so it is one less thing on my list.

4. Every Sunday look at the week ahead and every night look at the day ahead. There’s still time to put out the fire if you double-check what lies ahead.

What happens in your home? Do you plan way ahead, or take it a month or two at a time like us? Keep in mind that planning is a wonderful skill to have, but you also need to able to roll with the changes and let life happen.

I just returned from a wonderful vacation with my family to Alaska. I didn’t work, blog, Tweet or plan. We spent the week without a schedule and it was really refreshing. Now I’m back to reality and I’ve decided that I need to find a way to keep a little piece of that vacation with me – permanently.

This morning I had breakfast with a wise family friend. She’ll turn 90 this fall and is so incredibly sharp and funny. She has a weekly ritual that I truly admire and need to apply in some way for my life. She treats herself one day each week with a trip to the local store to just wander and look around, a treat at the bakery and then orders lunch to take home. Three simple things that she enjoys doing.

So now I need to find my ritual. I need to have one simple thing to look forward to each week that I do for me just because…

This week my Savvy Finds are a little different from what I’ve done in the past. I’m sharing some of my favorite books for inspiration and zen time. I like to pull out these books when I need a little organization inspiration or if I need to focus on solving an organizing problem. If you feel like you are stuck in a rut, or just need a new idea for something that’s not working, these books could help out.

First on my list is Libby Langdon’s Small Space Solutions. The book is full of tips to help smaller spaces feel more spacious. It has straight forward design advice for people like me that don’t have the decorating gene. The pictures alone can inspire some wonderful ideas for a variety of spaces.

Next up – The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. While I have trouble sitting to read the book straight through, I have found it incredibly valuable in short bursts for inspiring me to work at staying positive. There are some wonderful suggestions/projects that make it easy to feel like you are being proactive in creating a happy home and work life.

Unclutter Your Life in One Week by Erin Doland has some practical advice for getting organized. When you read it, I guarantee you’ll say “Oh, that makes total sense” about 50 times. I find it useful to give me a little jump-start when I dread starting a new project.

Organizing for the Creative Person by Dorothy Lehmkuhl has some great tools and techniques for the “right-brained” creative types. This book has wonderful ideas for news ways to approach organization and how to tackle a problem.

My new favorite is Randy Florke’s Restore, Recycle, Repurpose. The photos are brilliant and ideas are abundant. In fact, I got the book last week and it inspired me to do a project over the weekend. His chapter on the home office gave me the inspiration I needed to “Restore, Recycle, Repurpose” a small dining table from my husband’s grandmother. It was in our basement and I couldn’t picture what to do with it. Thanks to Randy’s book it has a new home in my office and I love it.

I’m taking a blogging class from the very talented Holly Becker and Leslie Shewring and our homework this week was to create an Inspiration Board. I decided to take a very literal approach to the assignment and try to really focus on why I’m doing my blog as well as my intended audience. I wanted my board to be a reminder of what I want to accomplish in my blog;

Very clean and uncluttered look

Easy solutions to home organzing

A place where people come to feel motivated and get inspired about streamlining their lives and decluttering their homes